The System for Award Management (SAM) is the Official U.S. Government system that consolidated the capabilities of CCR/FedReg, ORCA, and EPLS. There is NO fee to register for this site. Entities may register at no cost directly from this page. https://www.sam.gov/portal/SAM/##11

The Federal government requires that all applicants for Federal grants and cooperative agreements with the exception of . individuals other than sole proprietors, have a DUNS number. The Federal government will use the DUNS number to better identify related organizations that are receiving funding under grants and cooperative agreements, and to provide consistent name and address data for electronic grant applications. http://tinyurl.com/p73aubw